Land up for grabs in Argentina

An Argentinian wine company is offering subdivided plots from 800ha of prime vineyard land in Mendoza.

The company, Santa Maria de los Andes, hopes savvy wine-oriented investors will take advantage of land and labour costing much less than the equivalent of other wine-making regions of the world.

In the Agrelo region of Mendoza buyers can purchase a 12.5 acre parcel for a minimum commitment of US$350,000.

Parcels will be either already planted or fallow, and investors can choose from several cultivation ‘packages’ which carry an annual fee.

These range from hands-on, whereby owners can tend the vines, vinify, bottle, and sell their own wine – to hands-off, whereby they can outsource the entire process to an existing winemaking team. They can also build a property among their vines.

Ricardo Bello, president of the company that is selling the land, said that the company is talking to consultants of the calibre of Paul Hobbs and Roberto de la Mota.

‘This is a unique opportunity for someone to invest in affordable, premium wine-making land, and have a chance to gain from both the increase in value of the land, and the wine that can be made on it,’ said Bello, who has spearheaded several successful non-wine related land development projects in Argentina.

‘Our neighbours are Catena, Septima and Pulenta,’ he added.

Several investors have already signed up.

‘We plan to cultivate grapes, buy a winery nearby and develop our own brand,’ said Eric Spencer, a who leads a consortium of buyers from New Zealand who have previously invested on Felton Road in Central Otago.

‘This land costs a fraction of land in Napa Valley or any other premium regions. We’re going to make gold-medal quality wine here.’